Part 2
Adam Kane paused on the balcony above Sanctuary's communal living area, listening to the ebb and flow of seemingly light-hearted banter between the four young people eating brunch down below. His people - his family, in fact, the only family he had now, and he knew they'd all come to feel the same.
Their mutations - for which he was ultimately responsible - had isolated them from those who should have supported and cared for them, the so called normal people who viewed their differing abilities as a threat or who simply couldn't cope with those differences, which left only the company of others like themselves who understood what was happening to them. And him, of course, and he was proud of the way he'd helped his four protégés to come to terms with what they were and to view their powers positively, making amends in some small way for his actions all those years ago.
The bond that had developed between them all as a result of those shared experiences was what gave Mutant X its edge, in his view, which was why he was standing there now trying to pick up some tangible manifestation of a vaguely sensed concern that had been nagging at the edge of his mind for the past few weeks. In some way he couldn't quite put his finger on, the group dynamic had been subtly altering and, although it could just be a natural evolution reflecting the changes wrought by their recent 'new mutant' growth spurts, he felt he needed to get a handle on it just in case it proved to be something more.
But from what he was hearing now, things were pretty normal – Brennan and Jesse were teasing Shalimar about the inadequacies of the guy she'd been dancing with at some club the night before as Emma provided a running commentary of the evening, and thankfully seemed to have gotten over whatever had happened at Whicker's plant a couple of days previously. Although Adam had been on hand to provide support during the supposedly simple in-and-out job, he hadn't been listening in the whole time and, though neither of them had mentioned a problem during their reports, he didn't have to be a psionic to tell that there had been some unresolved friction between them.
He hoped it was nothing more than a fraternal squabble, though, rather than being indicative of some deeper problem. The after-effects of their last major operation in Kovakhstan had taken their toll on all of them, but Brennan and Jesse had seemed to bear the brunt – if for widely differing reasons.
For Brennan, it had brought back memories of a time when he'd had a real family to call his own, before fate – and the air force - had taken his father away from him. Although he'd successfully ensured that another child wouldn't go through the same anguish he had by going against orders to rescue the captive pilot, Captain Morrison, it had still taken him time to deal with the emotions the whole incident had brought bubbling to the surface.
Jesse, on the other hand, had returned mentally and physically exhausted - hardly surprising, Adam thought, when he considered what he'd had to do to help get them home. That he'd actually been successful in phasing not only something the size of the Double Helix but also her passengers - way more than he'd ever attempted before - showed that his new powers, like those of the other team members, had still untapped depths. But it had taken several days before he'd been able to drag himself out of bed for more than a few hours at a time and he'd shown scant interest in anything other than eating when he had been awake, which made Adam worry that he'd over-stretched himself too far.
In the end, though, it wasn't Jesse's physical condition that had caused most concern - he'd been back to his usual bouncy self in that respect before the week was out - but the slightly detached way he seemed to react to any comments or queries about what had happened out there in the forest, or later on in the plane. It was almost as if he couldn't fully remember the details and therefore wasn't sure how to answer. But the full battery of tests Adam had got him to grudgingly submit to had come up normal, so he'd had to make do with promising himself to keep a close eye on his condition over the coming days – just in case.
And though there hadn't been any overt signs of anything further amiss, he knew it never paid to get complacent so, with that thought in mind, he headed on down the stairs to join his team.
"Hey, Adam." Shalimar acknowledged his appearance with a lazy smile. "Tell these guys to lay off before I give them an up close and personal demonstration of what pussycats can *really* do."
"Oh, I'm *so* scared!" Brennan shrank back in his chair in mock terror, raising a giggle from Emma and a smirk from Jesse. The butt of his humour just pouted and treated him to the kind of glare that had turned grown men into quivering heaps on the floor, but which this time just seemed to increase the level of hilarity being experienced by her audience. Even Adam found it hard to keep a straight face, allowing himself to share in the warmth and companionship of the moment. But it seemed oddly short-lived, as one by one four pairs of eyes swivelled to focus on him.
"So... do we have another job?" The question came, perhaps a little surprisingly, from a smiling Emma, confirmation of her growing confidence in her own position in the group, though he knew if she chose to she could have taken the answer to her question from his mind without the need to ask it. He glanced around at the other faces watching him, seeing the expected taut anticipation of action-to-come bringing Shalimar to the edge of her seat, Brennan's enthusiasm for anything other than sitting around doing nothing reflected in his eager dark features, and Jesse...
...and from Jesse, nothing. He wasn't even looking at him anymore, expression vacant and empty gaze fixed on a point somewhere a few feet above floor in front of him. But before Adam had a chance to say or do anything, his eyes blinked back into focus again, a frown creasing his forehead as he glanced furtively around him. He seemed to relax, though, when he saw the others still looking expectantly in Adam's direction, and quickly covered his apparent confusion with a quizzical half-grin as he did the same.
Realising they were waiting for an answer Adam smiled, making sure he encompassed them all as he responded. "No, not right now. Just the usual monitoring, and the computers can take care of that for now. In any case, it sounded like things were just getting interesting and I'd hate to interrupt."
"Oh, I think we were just about finished here, don't you, Jess?" Brennan lounged back against the cushions, folding his arms behind his head. "Kinda made our point?"
Shalimar snorted. "In your dreams, big guy! And much as I'd love to stay and teach you the error of your ways, Jess and I have a date with the security systems at Safehouse 1." She came smoothly to her feet and looked down at the youngest of her male companions. "You ready?"
For a split second Jesse stared back at her in seemingly total incomprehension, but it was quickly concealed behind a lop-sided smile as he stood and moved past her. "Uh... yeah. Right. I'll... uh... just go get my gear."
Shalimar laid a hand on his arm, halting his progress. "You OK?" she asked with genuine concern.
His smile broadened as he rested his own hand on hers, briefly. "I'm good... Just a bit of a headache. It'll pass. Meet you at the car in five."
She nodded to his departing back before turning to the others again. "Does he seem all right to you?"
"Oh, he's probably just pissed 'cos he's gonna miss the big game this afternoon," Brennan offered casually. "He was talking about it this morning – guess he forgot he wouldn't be here."
"Yeah... I guess..." Shalimar looked dubiously at Adam for reassurance but he was staring thoughtfully after Jesse, absently stroking at his chin. Another glance at Brennan just produced a shrug and, "He's a big boy – stop trying to mother him."
Biting back a caustic retort as the potential truth of his words dawned on her, she looked to Emma for support but found only an expression as thoughtful as Adam's, one which cleared in a flash to be replaced by a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Shal. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Hoping that her words were based on what she was sensing from him, rather than just wishful thinking, Shalimar nodded and headed for the garage.
**
The dim lighting in the big lab relegated large areas of the room to the deepest of shadow, and Adam was completely unaware he was anything other than alone when he came in late that evening to check on some experiments he was running. Immediately engrossed in what he was working on, it took some minutes before the soft tap-tap of another keyboard percolated his concentration and he looked round with a start, surprised to see Emma sitting at a workstation in the corner. He could have sworn there'd been nobody there before, and he hadn't heard her arrive – but then again, he knew he could sometimes be too focused when it came to his work, so she could well have said something to him and he just didn't hear her. But as she was here...
"Hi," he said, walking over to join her. "You're working late. Anything I can help with?" As he approached, though, her hand reached out to hit a key, clearing the screen of whatever had been there, and he wondered what it was she didn't want him to see.
"No," she replied, swivelling her chair to face him. "I just wanted to check something out. Nothing important. And you're a fine one to talk about working late – you're always doing it! You shouldn't push yourself so hard, it's not good for you. It's not like you have to do everything yourself, you know..." He had to smile at her chiding tone, briefly reversing their roles and making him feel like the child to her parent
"Yes, Mom," he said with a grin, seeing her flush slightly as she realized what she'd been doing. But her telempathic abilities often gave her a better insight into how people were feeling than they were aware of themselves, and although he trusted that she would never go so far as to actually enter his mind uninvited and 'read' him, he had to wonder if she'd perhaps sensed something from him that would bear watching out for. "It's OK," he assured her, "you're probably right. But that's even more reason for you not to follow my example."
She smiled archly back, looking up at him from under her bangs. "I'll stop if you'll stop." She hit a couple more keys and switched off the power to the monitor, before rising to her feet. "I was about done anyway. Anything I can help you with?" She gestured to where Adam had been working, but he shook his head.
"No... well, not with that. But I did want to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"It's about Jesse. Since you guys got back from Kovakhstan, he's seemed a little... distant, distracted. Nothing I can say for certain is wrong, just... Well, you spent most time with him while you were out there. I just wondered if something happened, something that maybe didn't seem important at the time. Or if he said or did anything that looking back might now appear strange."
While he was speaking he stepped away to his workstation to punch in another command, and by the time he turned back Emma was looking at him attentively, arms crossed loosely in front of her, the picture of relaxed composure as she gave obviously serious consideration to his words. There was no indication of the sudden tension that had held her rigid when he'd mentioned Jesse's name, the wash of disquiet that flooded her features before she got herself under control again.
"You know... I've noticed Jess hasn't quite been himself," she responded, carefully. "But I kind of put it down to, maybe, reaction to phasing the Helix, especially with all of us in it. We... well, we kind of had to force him into it, make him give it a shot when he didn't think he could do it." She paused, her face taking on a sudden look of wonder. "You know, that was pretty amazing, being phased like that? It's weird enough walking through walls when they're phased, but to actually be intangible yourself? I didn't know Jesse could do that..."
"Neither did he," Adam reminded her. "Could be that's why he was nervous about trying – he could have only managed to phase the plane, which would have left you all to just fall straight through the floor. And it was a long way down."
She blinked at that, some indefinable expression surfacing briefly in her eyes before it was pushed aside by clear concern. "God, I never thought about that. I just... we..."
"Yes, I know. You were on the verge of being blown out of the sky and you saw a way to prevent it. And Jesse came through, which in the long run has to make him stronger. And that's why I think there has to be another reason for whatever is bothering him." He looked at her earnestly, catching her gaze with his. "So, do you remember anything from the mission that will help us work out what that is? Or have you sensed anything from him since you've been back, anything out of the ordinary?"
She sighed and looked away, rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms as if to warm chilled flesh. "Believe me, Adam, if there was anything I could tell you about the mission that I thought would help Jesse, I would. And nothing I'm getting from him now says he's anything more than a bit tired. Oh, and working on getting a grip on all the new stuff that's been happening to him." She lifted her eyes to stare directly into his as she finished. "Just like the rest of us."
He had the odd feeling that there was something more behind her words than was immediately apparent, but knew the moment wasn't right to pursue it. "Well, if you do think of anything, let me know, OK? And do me a favour – keep an eye on Jesse?"
"Count on it," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder as she slid past him and headed for the door, pausing only to toss back over her shoulder, "Don't stay up too late," accompanied by a mischievous grin as she left the room.
And despite everything Adam found himself smiling as well as he turned back to finish up his work.
****
Adam Kane paused on the balcony above Sanctuary's communal living area, listening to the ebb and flow of seemingly light-hearted banter between the four young people eating brunch down below. His people - his family, in fact, the only family he had now, and he knew they'd all come to feel the same.
Their mutations - for which he was ultimately responsible - had isolated them from those who should have supported and cared for them, the so called normal people who viewed their differing abilities as a threat or who simply couldn't cope with those differences, which left only the company of others like themselves who understood what was happening to them. And him, of course, and he was proud of the way he'd helped his four protégés to come to terms with what they were and to view their powers positively, making amends in some small way for his actions all those years ago.
The bond that had developed between them all as a result of those shared experiences was what gave Mutant X its edge, in his view, which was why he was standing there now trying to pick up some tangible manifestation of a vaguely sensed concern that had been nagging at the edge of his mind for the past few weeks. In some way he couldn't quite put his finger on, the group dynamic had been subtly altering and, although it could just be a natural evolution reflecting the changes wrought by their recent 'new mutant' growth spurts, he felt he needed to get a handle on it just in case it proved to be something more.
But from what he was hearing now, things were pretty normal – Brennan and Jesse were teasing Shalimar about the inadequacies of the guy she'd been dancing with at some club the night before as Emma provided a running commentary of the evening, and thankfully seemed to have gotten over whatever had happened at Whicker's plant a couple of days previously. Although Adam had been on hand to provide support during the supposedly simple in-and-out job, he hadn't been listening in the whole time and, though neither of them had mentioned a problem during their reports, he didn't have to be a psionic to tell that there had been some unresolved friction between them.
He hoped it was nothing more than a fraternal squabble, though, rather than being indicative of some deeper problem. The after-effects of their last major operation in Kovakhstan had taken their toll on all of them, but Brennan and Jesse had seemed to bear the brunt – if for widely differing reasons.
For Brennan, it had brought back memories of a time when he'd had a real family to call his own, before fate – and the air force - had taken his father away from him. Although he'd successfully ensured that another child wouldn't go through the same anguish he had by going against orders to rescue the captive pilot, Captain Morrison, it had still taken him time to deal with the emotions the whole incident had brought bubbling to the surface.
Jesse, on the other hand, had returned mentally and physically exhausted - hardly surprising, Adam thought, when he considered what he'd had to do to help get them home. That he'd actually been successful in phasing not only something the size of the Double Helix but also her passengers - way more than he'd ever attempted before - showed that his new powers, like those of the other team members, had still untapped depths. But it had taken several days before he'd been able to drag himself out of bed for more than a few hours at a time and he'd shown scant interest in anything other than eating when he had been awake, which made Adam worry that he'd over-stretched himself too far.
In the end, though, it wasn't Jesse's physical condition that had caused most concern - he'd been back to his usual bouncy self in that respect before the week was out - but the slightly detached way he seemed to react to any comments or queries about what had happened out there in the forest, or later on in the plane. It was almost as if he couldn't fully remember the details and therefore wasn't sure how to answer. But the full battery of tests Adam had got him to grudgingly submit to had come up normal, so he'd had to make do with promising himself to keep a close eye on his condition over the coming days – just in case.
And though there hadn't been any overt signs of anything further amiss, he knew it never paid to get complacent so, with that thought in mind, he headed on down the stairs to join his team.
"Hey, Adam." Shalimar acknowledged his appearance with a lazy smile. "Tell these guys to lay off before I give them an up close and personal demonstration of what pussycats can *really* do."
"Oh, I'm *so* scared!" Brennan shrank back in his chair in mock terror, raising a giggle from Emma and a smirk from Jesse. The butt of his humour just pouted and treated him to the kind of glare that had turned grown men into quivering heaps on the floor, but which this time just seemed to increase the level of hilarity being experienced by her audience. Even Adam found it hard to keep a straight face, allowing himself to share in the warmth and companionship of the moment. But it seemed oddly short-lived, as one by one four pairs of eyes swivelled to focus on him.
"So... do we have another job?" The question came, perhaps a little surprisingly, from a smiling Emma, confirmation of her growing confidence in her own position in the group, though he knew if she chose to she could have taken the answer to her question from his mind without the need to ask it. He glanced around at the other faces watching him, seeing the expected taut anticipation of action-to-come bringing Shalimar to the edge of her seat, Brennan's enthusiasm for anything other than sitting around doing nothing reflected in his eager dark features, and Jesse...
...and from Jesse, nothing. He wasn't even looking at him anymore, expression vacant and empty gaze fixed on a point somewhere a few feet above floor in front of him. But before Adam had a chance to say or do anything, his eyes blinked back into focus again, a frown creasing his forehead as he glanced furtively around him. He seemed to relax, though, when he saw the others still looking expectantly in Adam's direction, and quickly covered his apparent confusion with a quizzical half-grin as he did the same.
Realising they were waiting for an answer Adam smiled, making sure he encompassed them all as he responded. "No, not right now. Just the usual monitoring, and the computers can take care of that for now. In any case, it sounded like things were just getting interesting and I'd hate to interrupt."
"Oh, I think we were just about finished here, don't you, Jess?" Brennan lounged back against the cushions, folding his arms behind his head. "Kinda made our point?"
Shalimar snorted. "In your dreams, big guy! And much as I'd love to stay and teach you the error of your ways, Jess and I have a date with the security systems at Safehouse 1." She came smoothly to her feet and looked down at the youngest of her male companions. "You ready?"
For a split second Jesse stared back at her in seemingly total incomprehension, but it was quickly concealed behind a lop-sided smile as he stood and moved past her. "Uh... yeah. Right. I'll... uh... just go get my gear."
Shalimar laid a hand on his arm, halting his progress. "You OK?" she asked with genuine concern.
His smile broadened as he rested his own hand on hers, briefly. "I'm good... Just a bit of a headache. It'll pass. Meet you at the car in five."
She nodded to his departing back before turning to the others again. "Does he seem all right to you?"
"Oh, he's probably just pissed 'cos he's gonna miss the big game this afternoon," Brennan offered casually. "He was talking about it this morning – guess he forgot he wouldn't be here."
"Yeah... I guess..." Shalimar looked dubiously at Adam for reassurance but he was staring thoughtfully after Jesse, absently stroking at his chin. Another glance at Brennan just produced a shrug and, "He's a big boy – stop trying to mother him."
Biting back a caustic retort as the potential truth of his words dawned on her, she looked to Emma for support but found only an expression as thoughtful as Adam's, one which cleared in a flash to be replaced by a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Shal. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Hoping that her words were based on what she was sensing from him, rather than just wishful thinking, Shalimar nodded and headed for the garage.
**
The dim lighting in the big lab relegated large areas of the room to the deepest of shadow, and Adam was completely unaware he was anything other than alone when he came in late that evening to check on some experiments he was running. Immediately engrossed in what he was working on, it took some minutes before the soft tap-tap of another keyboard percolated his concentration and he looked round with a start, surprised to see Emma sitting at a workstation in the corner. He could have sworn there'd been nobody there before, and he hadn't heard her arrive – but then again, he knew he could sometimes be too focused when it came to his work, so she could well have said something to him and he just didn't hear her. But as she was here...
"Hi," he said, walking over to join her. "You're working late. Anything I can help with?" As he approached, though, her hand reached out to hit a key, clearing the screen of whatever had been there, and he wondered what it was she didn't want him to see.
"No," she replied, swivelling her chair to face him. "I just wanted to check something out. Nothing important. And you're a fine one to talk about working late – you're always doing it! You shouldn't push yourself so hard, it's not good for you. It's not like you have to do everything yourself, you know..." He had to smile at her chiding tone, briefly reversing their roles and making him feel like the child to her parent
"Yes, Mom," he said with a grin, seeing her flush slightly as she realized what she'd been doing. But her telempathic abilities often gave her a better insight into how people were feeling than they were aware of themselves, and although he trusted that she would never go so far as to actually enter his mind uninvited and 'read' him, he had to wonder if she'd perhaps sensed something from him that would bear watching out for. "It's OK," he assured her, "you're probably right. But that's even more reason for you not to follow my example."
She smiled archly back, looking up at him from under her bangs. "I'll stop if you'll stop." She hit a couple more keys and switched off the power to the monitor, before rising to her feet. "I was about done anyway. Anything I can help you with?" She gestured to where Adam had been working, but he shook his head.
"No... well, not with that. But I did want to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"It's about Jesse. Since you guys got back from Kovakhstan, he's seemed a little... distant, distracted. Nothing I can say for certain is wrong, just... Well, you spent most time with him while you were out there. I just wondered if something happened, something that maybe didn't seem important at the time. Or if he said or did anything that looking back might now appear strange."
While he was speaking he stepped away to his workstation to punch in another command, and by the time he turned back Emma was looking at him attentively, arms crossed loosely in front of her, the picture of relaxed composure as she gave obviously serious consideration to his words. There was no indication of the sudden tension that had held her rigid when he'd mentioned Jesse's name, the wash of disquiet that flooded her features before she got herself under control again.
"You know... I've noticed Jess hasn't quite been himself," she responded, carefully. "But I kind of put it down to, maybe, reaction to phasing the Helix, especially with all of us in it. We... well, we kind of had to force him into it, make him give it a shot when he didn't think he could do it." She paused, her face taking on a sudden look of wonder. "You know, that was pretty amazing, being phased like that? It's weird enough walking through walls when they're phased, but to actually be intangible yourself? I didn't know Jesse could do that..."
"Neither did he," Adam reminded her. "Could be that's why he was nervous about trying – he could have only managed to phase the plane, which would have left you all to just fall straight through the floor. And it was a long way down."
She blinked at that, some indefinable expression surfacing briefly in her eyes before it was pushed aside by clear concern. "God, I never thought about that. I just... we..."
"Yes, I know. You were on the verge of being blown out of the sky and you saw a way to prevent it. And Jesse came through, which in the long run has to make him stronger. And that's why I think there has to be another reason for whatever is bothering him." He looked at her earnestly, catching her gaze with his. "So, do you remember anything from the mission that will help us work out what that is? Or have you sensed anything from him since you've been back, anything out of the ordinary?"
She sighed and looked away, rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms as if to warm chilled flesh. "Believe me, Adam, if there was anything I could tell you about the mission that I thought would help Jesse, I would. And nothing I'm getting from him now says he's anything more than a bit tired. Oh, and working on getting a grip on all the new stuff that's been happening to him." She lifted her eyes to stare directly into his as she finished. "Just like the rest of us."
He had the odd feeling that there was something more behind her words than was immediately apparent, but knew the moment wasn't right to pursue it. "Well, if you do think of anything, let me know, OK? And do me a favour – keep an eye on Jesse?"
"Count on it," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder as she slid past him and headed for the door, pausing only to toss back over her shoulder, "Don't stay up too late," accompanied by a mischievous grin as she left the room.
And despite everything Adam found himself smiling as well as he turned back to finish up his work.
****